Brady Tkachuk signs 7-year, $57.5 million deal with Senators

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators agreed to a seven-year, $57.5 million contract Thursday. The Senators made the announcement in the morning, hours before Ottawa’s home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 22-year-old Tkachuk was a restricted free agent. He missed the preseason and was not available to play Thursday night, with coach D.J. Smith saying earlier it would take Tkachuk at least a week to 10 days to play. Tkachuk played in all 56 games last season and led the Senators in scoring with 36 points on 17 goals and 19 assists. The 6-foot-4, 211-pound left wing also had a team-high 69 penalty minutes and was second in the NHL in hits with 248.